


The Symphony Verse: Best. Christmas. Ever.

by shandyall



Series: The Symphony Verse [8]
Category: Glee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-07 23:29:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5474519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shandyall/pseuds/shandyall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five Christmas moments from The Symphony Verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.

Christmas, 2059

A week before Christmas, Blaine comes home from shopping empty handed to find Kurt sitting on the floor in front of their tree, gazing at the twinkle lights. 

“You didn’t buy anything?” Kurt asks, turning back to glance at him, the lights of the tree picking up the sparkle in his graying hair that Blaine loves more every day. “Were the stores too crowded? You should have gone with me a month ago when you had the chance.”

“Um, well,” Blaine says. He’s about to settle on the floor next to Kurt but then thinks better of it before sinking slowly into the armchair and trying to hold back a mild wince. 

“Uh-oh. Did you throw your back out again?”

He shouldn’t have sat down. There was no way Kurt wouldn’t notice.

Blaine shakes his head. Kurt looks alarmed, standing up and striding over, giving Blaine a serious look.

“It’s supposed to be a Christmas s-s-s-surprise!” Blaine says, throwing his hands up as if trying to physically protect himself from Kurt’s wrath.

“What is? The fact that you’ve injured yourself?”

“No.” Blaine heaves himself out of the chair and lowers his jeans enough to reveal a strip of gauze on the apple of his ass cheek.

“What on earth-” Kurt says.

“Look under it,” Blaine interrupts.

Kurt cautiously lifts the gauze and reveals a tattoo of some language he doesn’t speak. A vague memory sparks in his head.

“Is this,” Kurt starts. “Oh my god, is this what I think it is?”

“It’s Sanskrit for ‘right’.”

Kurt can’t take it anymore, he’s bent over, laughing so hard that tears are streaming down his face. 

Blaine straightens himself up, buttoning his jeans, and turns to face Kurt.

“So, so, so you like it?” 

“This is the most amazing thing,” Kurt says, wiping his eyes and sniffling. 

“I thought you mmmm-might appreciate that.”

“But why?” Kurt asks.

“Just seemed like time.” 

“How long have you been holding onto this idea?”

“A couple years,” Blaine says with a shrug, and then pauses like he’s counting in his head. “Like … forty-ish years. I needed to work up the guts to, to, to, to actually dah-do it.

“It’s amazing.”

“I really wah-wanted it to be a Christmas sssss-surprise.”

Kurt starts laughing again and Blaine waits him out.

Kurt shakes his head as he gets himself under control. “Literally the best Christmas present ever.”

“No way! There have b-b-been so many buh-buh-better Christmases.”

They start talking over each other.

“What about that year with the sah-weater party?” Blaine says.

“I forgot about that! That wasn’t the best Christmas that was just funny.”

“True and definitely not buh-better than that year when the mmm-mall Santa-”

“Or second only to when Declan announced-” Kurt starts and stops.

“That was good.”

“What about when we got snowed in?” 

“That was terrible!”

“We would have never run into you-know-who.”

“He who must not be named,” Blaine says, smirking.

“Really, any year we’re together,” Kurt says, leaning in and putting his arms around Blaine’s waist. “That’s the best.”

“Very true,” Blaine agrees. “Very, very true.”


	2. Best. Ugly. Sweater. Ever.

Kurt and Blaine arrive late to the ugly sweater party that one of Kurt’s coworkers is throwing because Blaine couldn’t find a sweater that was ugly enough. He settled on a red, nordic print sweater, which really isn’t ugly but at least it isn’t itchy either. Social gatherings can be terrible enough without the added discomfort of an itchy sweater.

Upon entering the party and learning the rules of the evening, Blaine instantly regrets his sweater choice.

It’s not just an ugly sweater party, it’s an ugly sweater _exchange_ party. And the host is wearing a sweater with a chicken in a Santa hat. Blaine has never seen such a glorious sweater in his life. He had no idea idea such a sweater existed.

He pulls Kurt into the corner to strategize.

“I-I-I need that sah-weater.”

“You really don’t.”

“I am going to mmm-make that s-s-sah-weater my own.”

“Good luck with that,” Kurt says, eyeing the table with appetizers and snacks. In the flurry of trying to find a sweater for Blaine he never did get around to eating anything.

“Are you going to help mmmm-me?”

Kurt gives Blaine a look. “Do you really think I’m going to exchange my glorious Christmas sloth sweater for anything less?”

“B-b-b-b-uh-ut you don’t even like sloths that much! You don’t like them half as mmm-much as I like chickens!”

“This is true. But I love this sweater. You’re the one who bought it for me. I’m a big fan of you.”

“On sale! As a, a, a, a joke! I never thought it would sah-tand buh, b-b-between me and the Christmas Chicken!”

Blaine spends the next several hours trying to trade his sweater. He realizes quickly that the host isn’t going to be willing to trade that sweater for Blaine’s boring sweater, but he hopes that maybe through several trades, he can work his way up to the chicken.

His first stop is a guy in a sweater vest with working Christmas lights all over it. Approaching people will never be one of Blaine’s favorite things to do, especially approaching people he’s never met at a party. It’s actually his worst nightmare. But he wants that chicken.

“Hey, um, so,” Blaine says, trying to get the guy’s attention. “I, uh, I, um.”

“Hey, you’re Blaine right?” the guys asks, thrusting his hand out to shake Blaine’s. “I’ve seen your picture on Kurt’s desk at work. I’m Mike.”

“Oh, uh, nice to um, mmm-meet you,” Blaine says. 

He convinces Mike to trade with him by explaining that Blaine will give him a whole sweater for one measly vest. The trade works and Blaine is left with exposed arms, but now there’s at least hope for getting the chicken.

Unfortunately, after that, his luck fades. Several people overheard his initial trade, and his trading strategy, and don’t want to downgrade from a sweater to a vest. 

The party is winding down and Blaine is annoyed at himself for being as sad as he is.

“Aw, it’s okay poop. At least your arms look awesome in the vest.” Kurt’s coat is already on as he hands Blaine his. “We’ll find you a chicken sweater.”

“Promise?” Blaine says.

“Totally.”

They say their goodbyes and head back to Kurt’s apartment where they’ll have some privacy tonight since Puck and Rachel are at a Hanukkah party.

As soon as they’re inside, Kurt unbuttons his coat and reveals the chicken sweater.

“How did you mmmm-manage this?” Blaine asks. 

“Oh you know, I have my ways.”

“Unbelievable.” Blaine grins. “So are _you_ willing to trade wah-with me?”

“Honestly? Let’s throw that god forsaken vest out and you just keep this one.”

“What about your quote, unquote ‘glorious sloth sweater’?”

“I loved it because it was from you, but really, your passion for chicken is unmatched, so who am I to stand in the way?”

“Best. Ugly. Sweater. Ever.”

“It is truly exquisite in its ugliness,” Kurt agrees.


	3. Best. Canceled. Flight. Ever.

It’s been a long day.

A very, very, very long day.

After spending way too many hours at the airport, hoping that their flight wouldn’t be canceled due to the weather, their flight was, of course, canceled due to weather.

“Well, this sucks, “ Blaine says, finally pushing his way into their apartment, lugging a suitcase and carry on that magically put on weight in the twelve hours since he packed them. It doesn’t help that they’ve been soaked by the heavy falling snow. He does his best to dust off what he can, but it’s hopeless.

“This is such a bummer,” Kurt says, throwing himself on the couch after taking off every last shred of wet clothing. Blaine follows suit before joining Kurt on the couch.

They sit there in silence for a few minutes. 

“Maybe we should, you know, keep each other w-warm or sss-sss-something. We’re already almost undressed.”

Kurt laughs, barely stifling a yawn that follows it. “Ask me again in the morning when I don’t have airport clinging to my every orifice.”

“Oh, you buh-better stop it with that ssss-exy talk.”

Kurt smiles.

“At least we’ll be able to get a, a, a flight out tomorrow hopefully,” Blaine says.

“Hopefully.” Kurt sighs heavily and leans his head on the back of the couch, closing his eyes and ignoring how cold it is in their apartment.

“We should b-b-buy a car.”

“Cars cost money and we wouldn’t want to drive in this anyway,” Kurt says automatically.

“We should eat food.”

“Now that I agree with.”

Blaine hauls himself off the couch and into the kitchen. Moments later he steps back out. 

“We have no food.”

Kurt sits up. “We have no food.”

Blaine shakes his head solemnly.

“We ate it all before we left for our week away so that nothing would go bad,” Kurt continues.

Blaine nods.

They ransack the kitchen looking for anything edible, along the way squabbling about who put the mostly empty peanut butter jar back in the cabinet.

After exhausting all hope, they sit on the floor and each lick what they can from jar of mostly empty peanut butter.

“I am wah-wah-eak with hunger,” Blaine says.

“Well, you know Poop, even though it feels like the middle of the night, it’s really only 10 o’clock and there are any number of eateries still open for us to partake.”

“Buh-buh-but I am weak.”

“We could get delivery,” Kurt offers.

“Nah,” Blaine says with a sudden change of heart. “Let’s go for a walk.”

They end up at the Mexican place a block away from their apartment. It’s a quiet night and Blaine watches the snow float down outside the window while they wait for their food. Kurt’s playing around with his phone and showing him every picture Cooper is posting of his kids.

“I can’t believe we’re missing this,” Kurt mutters, scrolling endlessly.

A man with dark hair comes through the door of the restaurant, the bell jangling and catching Blaine’s attention.

“Oh my god, Kurt,” Blaine hisses.

“Your dad is hilarious these days. Like he had a personality transplant,” Kurt says, not paying any attention.

“Kurt!” Blaine says, louder this time.

“What?”

“Look who just walked in,” Blaine says through his teeth.

“Who?” Kurt says loudly, making a spectacle of turning around in the chair and staring at the man.

He turns back to Blaine and shakes his head.

“Ezra Miller,” Blaine says, still talking through his teeth.

“I have no clue what you’re saying,” Kurt says. “Are you reenacting that Friends episode where Chandler is in the ATM vestibule?”

Before Blaine can say anything, Ezra Miller happens to be walking out with his take out order and pauses at their table to say “Classic episode.”

Kurt’s jaw drops. 

The bells jingle and Blaine sits back, folding his arms. “Ezra Miller.”

“Holy shit that was Ezra Miller!”

“You just buh-buh-lew your chances with him.”

“Do you think he recognized me from when I met him like five years ago?”

“I-I-I don’t know, maybe you should r-r-r-run off and ask him.”

“Should I really?”

Blaine rolls his eyes. Their food is delivered then and the boys eat while Kurt retells the story of the time he met Ezra Miller at Vogue.

Blaine doesn’t even tease him about his crush.

Or at least, not _too_ much.


	4. Best. Mall. Santa. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This installment is brought to by [this video](http://mic.com/articles/129869/this-christmas-video-of-a-little-girl-asking-santa-for-presents-is-going-viral?utm_source=policymicTBLR&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=social#.KGOZyGN5B) I saw making the rounds. It’s kind of what made me want to write this little series in the first place.

Blaine holds tightly to Declan’s hand as they make their way across the mall, striding purposefully in the direction of the line to meet Santa Claus. Kurt and Addie are right behind them, but Blaine is a man on a mission. He’s not sure Declan really gets the concept of what’s going on right now, but Blaine’s going to make sure he gets the best experience possible. And if nothing else, Declan seems really impressed with all the lights and decorations.

As they stand in a line that promises to only take twenty minutes, Addie starts up with the same monologue she gave them in the car.

“If you would let me and Declan go up alone, I could tell Santa that Declan only knows sign language and I could interpret for him. Santa is only supposed to talk to kids. He’s going to think I’m a baby if I have to go up with my dads. I’m not sure why you want to make me look like a baby in front of Santa but I don’t think that’s very fair. Declan is almost four, and I just turned six, you know.” She picks at the glitter on her red tutu while explaining all of this using her most grown up vocabulary.

Kurt and Blaine let her get all of her feelings out while rolling their eyes at each other over the top of her head.

“Addie, it’s not that we dah-don’t trust you to help Declan,” Blaine says, kneeling down in front of her. “It’s that we w-w-w-w-want to see bah-both of you with Santa. It’s fun for us. And we need to make sure Declan doesn’t get, doesn’t get, um, too freaked out.”

“He’s gotten better around tall guys, but what if this Santa is a giant?” Kurt asks.

Addie thinks seriously about this. “I’m not sure how tall Santa is.”

“Exactly,” Blaine says, nodding. “What if Declan gets ssssss-cared and runs away and you have to mmm-miss your time with Santa be, be, be, because you’re responsible for him?”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Addie says, tapping her chin with her pointer finger. “I see what you mean.”

They’re finally at the front of the line and Addie takes Declan’s hand, pulling him over to Santa. Kurt and Blaine step out of the way and to the side.

“Hello,” Santa says pulling them both onto his lap for a picture. Declan only looks mildly uncomfortable.

“Hello, I’m Addie and this is my brother Declan. He can’t hear.” 

“Does he know sign language?” Santa asks her.

Addie nods enthusiastically and Santa starts signing to both kids. 

Declan grins and starts signing back, as if he’s found an old friend. He tells Santa what he wants for Christmas and then Addie does the same, none of them speaking another word until Blaine and Kurt finally have to prod the kids along so the next family in line can have their turn.

“Did you see?” Addie yells as they walk away. “Did you see how smart Santa is?”

“We saw,” Kurt says, trying to surreptitiously wipe tears from his eyes.

Blaine blows his nose in a napkin he grabbed from the pretzel stand. “Buh-b-best mall Santa ever, wouldn’t you say, dumdum?”

“Without a doubt.”


	5. Best. Christmas. Surprise. Ever.

It’s not rare for the Anderson-Hummels and the Eversleighs to get together during the holidays. But there’s some kind of energy in the air at this particular gathering that isn’t usually there.

Blaine can’t put his finger on it, but he thinks it’s emanating from Declan’s direction.

Blaine approaches him at the buffet table during Declan’s third round of food. At 23, Declan is tall and broad and eats enough for a family of four. Blaine claps him on the shoulder and Declan turns.

“What’s up?” Blaine signs.

Declan shrugs and grins impishly. “The sky.”

Blaine rolls his eyes. 

“No, really though,” Blaine continues. “Something’s weird with you tonight.”

“I think I’m offended,” Declan signs before going back to scooping enough of Julia’s special homemade mac and cheese on his plate to fill a small boat. Blaine scoops a human sized serving of mac and cheese and they take a seat next to each other on the couch, surveying the scene before them. 

“It’s nice to have everyone together for the holidays,” Blaine signs, hoping to prod Declan into further conversation. 

Declan just nods and smiles.

No matter what Declan says, Blaine knows something is up. Call it parental intuition, but he knows his kid and Declan is hiding something. He mentions this feeling to Kurt, Matt, and Julia in turn but none of them seem to think anything is up.

After everyone opens presents, Julia is in the middle of her yearly speech about how Blaine and Kurt really don’t have to get presents for all the kids, no matter how kind it is of them.

“But that’s why we had so many kids, Julia,” Matt explains. “So we would always get more than anyone else. It’s the only time we win. That’s why we added a sixth one. Just for more presents.”

“The sixth one,” Campbell Jane, who goes by CJ, was a surprise baby for Matt and Julia eight years ago. Julia didn’t even realize she was pregnant for six months, she just thought she was old and menopausal. She’s a heck of a lot quieter than her brothers and sisters and spends most of her time reading in the corner.

“Please don’t listen to my husband,” Julia says.

Declan stands up and clears his throat. “I have something I want to tell everyone.”

“See? I told you,” Blaine whispers to Kurt.

Kurt raises his eyebrows and is about to respond when Jessa stands up next to Declan. “Actually we have something to tell everyone.”

“Oh my God,” Matt says loudly. He turns to look at Blaine, who looks so excited that he’s actually biting all of his nails at the same time.

“Jessa and I are getting married,” Declan says.

Both families let out a low gasp of varying degrees of shock and delight.

“But you’re kids!” Addie shouts.

“No we’re not,” Declan says, feeling like a kid even as he says it. “I have a great job, Jessa’s gonna be done with school in June, and she’ll find something.”

“Am I the only one who didn’t know you were dating?” Matt asks, looking around at Blaine, Kurt, and Julia who all shake their heads.

Jessa and Declan smile. “Um,” Declan says. “No one knew we were dating.”

“Except my roommates,” Jessa says. “And Declan’s friends.”

“How long have you guys been together?” Kurt asks feeling slightly steamrolled by the news, but also really happy.

Declan sucks in a deep breath. “Well, you know.”

“Depending no how you count?” Jessa asks.

“Like, forever?” Declan says, finishing her sentence.

“What’s forever?” Julia asks.

Jessa rolls her eyes.

“This is a completely normal question. I just don’t know why you would ice us out of such good news. You both knew that everyone would be thrilled for you.”

“Oh come on, Mom. Everyone would be thrilled, sure, but you know how much pressure that would have put on us? What if we fought? What if we broke up? Those things could still happen but at least we’re more established now.”

“Good lord, Jess,” Declan says, putting his arm around her waist. “Don’t jinx us.”

She smiles up at him. “But it’s true, right? Why we didn’t tell anyone?” she signs, because somewhere along the line she learned to sign and no one even really noticed.

“Of course.”

“So really, how long has it b-b-been?” Blaine asks, finally coming out of his stupor. 

Declan makes a pained face. “Basically since I left for college. But kind of before that. I don’t know. We were just kids. But when I left for college, we started talking more and then Jess decided to go to school near me and, I don’t know.” He finishes with a shrug.

“And now you’re getting mmmm-married,” Blaine states.

“Yup.”

He’s the first one off the couch to hug both kids, but Kurt, Julia, and Matt follow suit.

“Are we not going to discuss that they’re children?” Addie asks from the corner of the couch with her arms crossed tightly around her. “Would we be so excited if CJ was getting married?”

“I don’t want to get married,” CJ says, not looking up from _A Wrinkle in Time_.

“We’re not children, Addie,” Declan says, this time feeling more sure in the sentiment. “You’re just pissed cause I’m getting married before you.”

“Hmph,” is all she says in response, which basically translates to “I’m pissed that my little brother is getting married before me.”

Blaine pulls Addie up from the couch and hugs her, even though she obviously doesn’t want to be hugged.

“Oh, Addie girl, nothing like your younger bah-bah-rother getting engaged mere days after you broke up with your b-boy, boyfriend.”

“Maybe I could get him back.”

“Please don’t. We r-r-r-really didn’t like that guy.”

“Oh daddy.” She gives in then, as she always does, and goes over to congratulate Declan and Jessa. Jessa has her ring on now and honestly couldn’t look happier to have all their secrets finally out in the open. 

“Just about the best Christmas ever,” Matt says.

“Give or take,” Blaine says, exchanging a look with Kurt.

“Give or take,” Kurt agrees.


End file.
